Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
June 15, 2006, Vol. 06-68

SAMHSA Requests Comments on Proposed National Outcone Measures

On June 9th, SAMHSA published a Federal Register Notice to solicit comments on proposed National Outcome Measures (NOMs) for Consumers Receiving Mental Health Services.

The purpose of this proposed data activity is to promote the use of consistent measures among Center for Mental Health Services grantees and contractors funded through the Program of Regional and National Significance (PRNS) and Children's Mental Health Initiative (CMHI) budget lines.

A separate data collection form will be used for adults and children but will be parallel in design. NOMs data will be collected at baseline with a periodic reassessment being conducted every six months as long as the client remains in treatment. The proposed data collection will cover eight of the ten domains in NOMs. The Cost-Effectiveness and Evidence-Based Practices domains are under development. Completion of these domains will require input from other sources and is anticipated for Summer 2007.

The 8 proposed domains are: access/capacity, stability in housing, education and employment, crime and criminal justice, perception of care, social connectedness, and retention. Data sources and burden estimates are also provided.

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collections of information are necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection.

Written comments should be forwarded by August 8th to Summer King, SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer, Room 7-1044, One Choke Cherry Road, Rockville, MD 20857.

You can view the complete Federal Register notice by clicking on: http://origin.www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/ and searching the June 9th issue, Vol. 71, No. 111, for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on pages 33476-7.

To request more information on the proposed projects or to obtain a copy of the information collection plans, call the SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer on (240) 276-1243
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The Center for Mental Health Services is a component of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, United States Department of Health and Human Services.